A noble being refused entry into an establishment by a mere commoner was unheard of in all of Aranor, and this left Ezra shocked and confused. Gathering his hurt pride, Ezra looked straight at the guard, his eyes blazing with fury. “Do you even know who I am?” “It does not matter. Only members bearing the guild pass are allowed to enter this establishment, so beat it, kid,” the guard replied, tilting his head to point Ezra in the direction of the tavern. Offended by his impudence, Ezra lost his cool and pulled out his enchanted revolver. Pointing it at the guard, he spoke in a commanding voice, “I am Lord Ezra Romanov. Get out of my way, or I’ll drop you where you stand.” The guard never expected someone to pull a gun on him. And though he too, was armed with a flintlock pistol, the sight of the enchanted firearm in Ezra’s hand made his hands turn cold. Raising his hands, the guard whimpered, “You are making a big mistake here. Even the nobles aren’t allowed to enter without permi
The merchants present in the guild’s meeting chamber exchanged curious glances with each other as Ezra left the room. A local trader stepped forward with a frown on his face and asked, “Why did you say that we would support the Romanovs? Lord Wilhelm has promised to give us interest-free loans all year round, and he has close ties with the Duke as well. Why didn’t you get Lord Ezra arrested for barging into our guild house and threatening us with violence?” Yarpin smiled at this as though it was the silliest thing he had ever heard and replied, “What do you think that would have accomplished?”As he turned to face the trader, a devious grin flashed on his sly face. “Getting the little Lord arrested would be a temporary solution. Either Lord Sebastian or his sister would have showed up to free him. My goal is to permanently get him out of our hair.” “What do you mean?” the trader asked nervously. Yarpin placed his hand on the trader’s shoulder and whispered in a cold voice, “Lord Ez
The three rogues slowly emerged from the shadows and took flanking positions, surrounding Ezra from three sides. “Get out of here. You can still run!” the old man lying on the floor parted his bloodied lips and cried aloud. “It’s a bit too late for that!” the rogue wielding the large iron axe snapped back. Pulling out a prickly grape-sized fruit, he tossed it in the direction of the door. As soon as the fruit touched the wooden door frame, it split open to release a cluster of thorny green vines which spread out from the center and blocked the doorway. Ezra looked over his shoulder and saw that his only exit had been blocked by an impenetrable mesh of vines riddled with venomous thorns and tendrils. “Thornberries aren’t local to our province. How did you manage to get your hands on such an exotic fruit?” he asked, turning around to face the bandit. The man who had just tossed the Thornberry smirked and replied, “That’s none of your business. Besides, you are going to end up in a
An hour later, Ezra felt something cold and wet on his forehead and slowly opened his eyes. His throat felt so dry that he gasped for breath and soon started coughing. “Wha…what happened?” Ezra questioned in a feeble voice as he faintly made out the blurry outline of an elderly man standing over him. “You expended all your strength and magic power during the fight. It caused severe contractions within your body and weakened your immunity, hence the fever,” a familiar voice replied. Ezra tried to get up, but he was still too weak to stand up on his own, so the man beside him propped him up with a pillow. As Ezra’s vision slowly cleared, he squeezed the tears from his eyes and wiped his face clean with his kerchief. “I think you should stay the night. Your body is in pretty bad shape.” Hearing the man’s voice, Ezra turned his head to look at him. He thought it was Glenn, but the man looked far younger than the old collector. “Who are you? What are you doing here? Are you with thos
In another part of town, Aurelia had met up with the miners’ guild, which comprised mostly of able-bodied dwarven adults and their pet mole rats. Since Aurelia used to visit the mines quite often for inspection, most of the old miners were well-acquainted with her. So, instead of treating her as an outsider, they welcomed her as one of their own. However, things at the mine weren’t looking too good for the dwarves. There was news of trouble brewing in Kasari, the largest coal mine in Aranor. And the problem was so great that it had forced the miners to stop working and abandon the mine altogether. Currently, Aurelia was in the guild’s meeting room, carefully studying the layout of the coal mine, which was drawn on a piece of brown paper. The dwarves standing around her looked vexed and were constantly grumbling among themselves. “Keep it down, men! You’re distracting, Lady Aurelia!” the chief of the miners’ guild thundered, silencing his comrades. Although he was only four feet ta
The firearms merchant from the Eastern Province of Wazanjho had rented a small store on the southwestern side of town, in a secluded part of the mercantile area. As Ezra and his companion approached the store, a gruff-looking guard stopped them. “The store’s not open yet. Come back next week.” “We were sent by Mr. Yarpin Dale,” the assistant replied. “I believe Mr. Lee would not mind entertaining a guest for a while.” The firearms merchant, a scrawny-looking man sporting a long gray beard and pencil mustache peeped out of the store’s window and asked, “What does your guest want with me?” “He wishes to browse your wares, of course,” the attendant replied. Stepping aside, he introduced, “This is Lord Ezra, the youngest son of Lord Sebastian Romanov. I am sure he will be able to compensate you adequately for your troubles, Mr. Lee.” The merchant stared at Ezra, scanning him from head to toe before turning to his companion. “And what do you want?” “Nothing. I was just sent here to in
Ezra was quite happy with his purchase although the price seemed a bit steep. However, his thoughts were still drifting toward the enchanted weapons the merchant was so unwilling to sell. “You said the enchanted firearms you have are a gift for someone. Mind telling me who they’re for?” Ezra enquired, expecting the merchant to loosen his tongue now that he had become a paying customer. Kung Lee however frowned at this question. “That is none of your business, young one. If you’re done shopping, you may leave.” “Your arrogance will come back to bite you someday. I am Lord Ezra Romanov, and you are a foreigner in Aranor,” Ezra stated, staring daggers at the merchant. “I have the protection of the merchants’ guild, and you are not the only noble who is interested in my wares,” Kung Lee replied with an air of condescension. “I only decided to entertain you because you were a guest of Mr. Yarpin, but I really detest your company. Now leave before I get sick of staring at your deformed f
The siblings studied the map one last time and discussed their strategy with Ivan before exiting the miners’ guild and heading for the Kasari coal mine. Since the mine was located far from the residential areas, the news of the monster attacks hadn’t spread across Aranor. However, the recent death of one of the miners had already been reported to the town guards. “We have to kill the monster before the guards show up, or they will ruin everything,” Aurelia said as they neared the mine entrance. “I’ll prepare the bait. Take your time and double-check your weapons and items,” she said, turning to Ezra. While Aurelia worked on the straw dummy, Ezra swiped up to access his inventory and check the items he had on him. [Inventory:] [Weapons available:] [1. Rodel Gray-back six-shot revolver (enchanted).] [2. Larkin and Hops five-shot compact revolver (basic).] ..... [Potions available:] [1. Greater magic restoration potions (10).] [2. Greater healing potions (9).] [3. Solaris Vit